Loop Capital Lowers Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $180.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Loop Capital from $385.00 to $180.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Loop Capital’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.78% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $222.50 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.04.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $168.57. 2,605,471 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,136,616. The firm has a market cap of $110.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $190.94 and its 200 day moving average is $178.54.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.